January 28, 2010 - Kwak Young-kyoon, President of KT&G (formerly Korea Tobacco and Ginseng Corporation) , South Korea's foremost tobacco company, and Andrew Lochrie, regional director of Asia & Pacific at Imperial Tobacco Group, signed an alliance agreement under which KT&G will manufacture Imperial products. Under the deal, KT&G will manufacture and sell tobacco under the Davidoff brand in the first half of this year, the company said. KT&G and Imperial Tobacco plan to enhance their strategic tie-ups to expand their overseas market presence, the South Korean company said.

Davidoff is on offer in more than 100 countries across the globe and is particularly strong in such countries as Taiwan, Greece and Middle East, according to the Bristol-based company. The trademark was originally held by Reemtsma in German but was acquired by Imperial back in 2002 when it took over Reemtsma.